Jefferson Parish's mismanagement of arts center construction is an outrage: An editorial

In the annals of bloated and mismanaged public projects, the Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center stands in a class of its own, as a costly fiasco that should prompt reforms in parish contracting. A legislative audit last week lambasted parish officials for poor planning, lax oversight and political maneuvering that helped cause delays and cost overruns.

Matthew Hinton, The Times-PicayuneParish officials have greatly contributed to the delays and costs increases in the construction of the Jefferson Performing Arts Center.

And there's no end in sight: Auditors said officials are considering the project's eighth change order, possibly raising the bill above the current $52.4 million cap.

That is an outrage.

The pitfalls and mismanagement detailed in the audit would get executives in just about any well-run company fired, and investigators should look into possible violations to the bid law mentioned in the audit.

In an instance that raises serious questions about the actions of parish officials, the parish's finance director in June 2009 cut contractors a check for $5.6 million for "concrete revisions," without ever checking an invoice and even though parish engineers said the revisions amounted to less than $3 million. Then-parish administrator Tim Whitmer told auditors that he ordered the $5.6 million payment because Councilman Elton Lagasse asked for it. Councilman Lagasse, whose district includes the building, told auditors that he didn't recall doing so but that if Mr. Whitmer said it, it likely was true.

This long-time practice in Jefferson Parish of deferring to the district representative on some decisions involving projects is problematic. Former Councilman John Lavarine Jr., who essentially selected the project's designer, told auditors he did so because the firm was the only one that contacted him about it.

Most homeowners overseeing a small repair to their property do more due diligence than council members and administrators have done on this massive project.

In a statement, Councilman Lagasse said this is a complex issue and blamed his predecessors on the council and the Broussard administration. Past officials made plenty of bad decisions, indeed, but the audit shows that Councilman Lagasse and his colleagues have hardly done better.

Perhaps it's a tell-tale sign of Councilman Lagasse's diligence that his statement Thursday said he did not have the audit yet - even though the document was posted on the legislative auditor's website last Monday.

This is no way to run the public's business. Parish officials have wasted millions in tax dollars because of their mismanagement of this project. The least they can do is to own up to their mistakes and make sure the building is completed without any further waste.